Ravensbourne & Crows Nest National
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THE QUEENSLAND MYCOLOGIST Bulletin of The Queensland Mycological Society Inc Vol 8 Issue 3, Spring 2013 The Queensland Mycological Society ABN No 18 351 995 423 Internet: http://qldfungi.org.au/ Email: info [at] qldfungi.org.au QMS Executive Address: PO Box 5305, Alexandra Hills, Qld 4 161, Australia President Frances Guard Society Objectives info[at]qldfungi.org.au The objectives of the Queensland Mycological Society are to: Vice President Patrick Leonard 1. Provide a forum and a network for amateur and professional mycologists to share their common interest in macro-fungi; Secretary 2. Stimulate and support the study and research of Queensland macro-fungi Susan Nelles through the collection, storage, analysis and dissemination of information about info[at]qldfungi.org.au fungi through workshops and fungal forays; 3. Promote, at both the state and federal levels, the identification of Treasurer Queensland’s macrofungal biodiversity through documentation and publication Leesa Baker of its macro-fungi; Minutes Secretary 4. Promote an understanding and appreciation of the roles macro-fungal biodiversity plays in the health of Queensland ecosystems; and Ronda Warhurst 5. Promote the conservation of indigenous macro-fungi and their relevant Committe members ecosystems. Vanessa Ryan John Dearnaley Queensland Mycologist Other office holders The Queensland Mycologist is issued quarterly. Members are invited to submit short articles or photos to the editor for publication. Material can be in any word Website coordinator processor format, but not PDF. The deadline for contributions for the next issue is 10 November 2013, but earlier submission is appreciated. Late submissions Jeffrey Black and Vanessa Ryan may be held over to the next edition, depending on space, the amount of editing webmaster[at]qldfungi.org.au required, and how much time the editor has. Photos should be submitted Librarian separately at full-size to allow flexibility in resizing and cropping to fit the space available while minimising loss of quality. Authors who have specific Susan Nelles preferences regarding placement of photos should indicate in the text where Foray Coordinator they want them, bearing in mind that space and formatting limitations may mean that it is not always be possible to comply. Material from published Frances Guard sources may be included if that complies with copyright laws and the author foray[at]qldfungi.org.au and source are properly acknowledged. Newsletter Editor David Holdom Membership editor[at]qldfungi.org.au Membership of QMS is $25 per annum, due at the beginning of each calendar year, and is open to anyone with an interest in Queensland fungi. Membership is not restricted to people living in Queensland. Membership forms are available on the website, http://qldfungi.org.au/. Could members please notify the secretary ([email protected]) of changes to their contact details, especially e-mail addresses. Cover photo: QMS held a successful Gasteromycetes workshop in Maleny on August 3, so at Megan's suggestion, a composite of assorted species. Outside, clockwise from top left: Phallus multicolor, Crucibulum laeve, Phallus rubicundus, Lysurus mokusin, Scleroderma verrucosum(?), Cyathus olla, Geastrum floriforme, Aseroe rubra, Morganella purpurascens. Centre: Pseudocolus fusiformis, Lycoperdon pyriforme. Photo credits: P. rubicundus, L.mokusin and A. rubra © David Holdom, all other photos © Megan Prance. 2 Contents QMS Calendar 3 Editor's Comments 4 Fungi-linx 4 Ravensbourne & Crows Nest National Parks Foray 5 Maroochy Wetlands Foray 7 Cooloola National Park Foray 8 Gasteromycetes Workshop 10 QMS Calendar 2013 QMS Meetings 2013 Meetings are held in the F.M. Bailey Room at the To assist those unable to attend meetings, notes on the Queensland Herbarium, Mt Coot-tha, commencing at 7pm talks are included in the Queensland Mycologist wherever on the second Tuesday of the month from February (no possible. However, the notes never do justice to the topic January meeting), unless otherwise scheduled. Check the as they do not reflect the enthusiasm of the speaker or website for details and any changes. There will be 3-4 cover the discussion that follows. So remember, where guest speakers invited during the year and other meetings possible it is better to attend the meetings, get the will be informal. Suggestions from members for topics or information first hand and participate in the invaluable names of potential speakers or talks will be welcome at any information sharing opportunity. time. Please contact a member of the executive. October 8 Speaker: Alistair McTaggart: Rust and smut fungi of Australia. November 12 Speaker: TBA December 10 End of year party. Members bring food to share. Supper. Check the website for details of the supper roster. QMS Forays 2013 The foray season for 2013 is now over, but it is possible times. In addition, details may change as a result of that other forays will be organised late in the year drought or other unforeseen circumstances. Check the depending on weather conditions. Check the website for website for updates. information. Members are invited to suggest venues for additional The regular forays are normally held on the Saturdays forays. If you have any suggestions (and especially if following the QMS meetings of February to July, but there you are willing to lead a foray), please contact Fran or may be exceptions as well as additional forays at other another member of the executive. QMS Workshop Program 2013 A Beginner's Guide to Basics of Fungi ID and Recording Directions and further information will be provided to workshop will be held on October 12 at the Cubberla-Witton registrants Catchments Network headquarters building at Chapel Hill. Members are invited to suggest topics for workshops. Send Check the website for further details and changes. your ideas to Susan Nelles ([email protected] ) Fungimap Festival 2014 Fungimap Festival will be held from 24th to 27th April 2014 Many other exciting details are being worked on. in Brisbane. It will be a combined event, with the It is a great opportunity to hear top mycologists speaking in Australasian Mycological Society, Fungimap and one location, and to meet other enthusiasts from interstate Queensland Mycological Society participating. at the forays and workshops. There will be lectures on a variety of Fungal topics on the Please note it in your diaries. first day, followed by two days of workshops and forays. 3 Editor's Comments Welcome new member Annie Gregory, who is also our My excitement stems from my having seen it before when I youngest member. did not have access to a lab, and because I used to work Congratulations to Fran, Megan, Susan, Leesa, Adrian and with the so-called microfungi that infect insects, notably the Vanessa on an excellent workshop on Gasteromycetes that Entomophthoromycota and more recently hyphomycetes was held in Maleny in July. An enormous amount of such as Metarhizium, Nomuraea and Beauveria along with preparation went into it, and that showed. The workshop other more obscure genera. report is on page 10. Hopefully the keys from the workshop Penicillium is a hyphomycete. Its sexual forms fall into (at will be placed in the member's area of the website in the least) two genera, Talaromyces and Eupenicillium. near future. Thanks (I think) to Megan for the idea of a Therefore Penicillium as traditionally known is made up of Gasteromycete composite front page, and for supplying more than one real genus. most of the photos for it. But I might not do another one like that for a while.... Some definitions: There are also reports from the Ravensbourne/Crows Nest Synnemata (singular synnema), also coremia (“threads Maroochy Wetlands and Cooloola forays. Many thanks to together”) are erect reproductive structures borne by some John, Patrick and Fran for those. fungi, bearing conidiophores that fuse together to form a strand (which can be quite thick). Conidia (spores) are An exciting (for me) find in the Maroochy Wetlands was a produced on the outside of the synnemata. The photo of the blue-grey fungus on picabeen palm seeds. I have seen the picabeen seed fungus in the foray report on p7 shows thick same fungus at Mapleton Falls and Mt Tamborine in winter blue synnemata emerging from the seeds. and had thought that maybe it only occurred in the cooler higher places, but not so. Microscopic examination Hyphomycetes (also called Fungi Imperfecti or suggests that it is a synnematous species (definition Deuteromycetes) are asexual (anamorph) stages of below!) of Penicillium. Ascomycota. They constitute a “form-class” rather than a real taxonomic group. They can look totally different to the I have cultured the fungus from material provided by Patrick sexual (teleomorph) stage and in the past have been and it is now in Diana Leemon's lab at the Ecosciences described as separate species that in many cases could not Precinct in Dutton Park where I hope to work with Roger be associated with the ascomycete form. Now, molecular Shivas to identify it in the coming weeks. Synnematous evidence is allowing them to be reliably combined and in Penicillium species have been described elsewhere and it future a single name must be applied to both forms if remains to be seen whether this one is new or not. possible. Fungi-linx The ABC's Science Show on 24 August had two items on lichens: Lichens reveal pollution from WA coal-fired power plant http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/lichens-reveal-pollution-from-wa-coal-fired- power-plant/4908444 The mushroom that isn’t http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/the-mushroom-that-isne28099t/4908472 This video from ScienceAlert.com.au includes the fungus from the northwestern USA that is among the largest organisms on earth: http://www.sciencealert.com.au/index.php?option=com_jusertube&view=video&rid=vWAA- SrrFUQ&yuser=PLI-6-wtgFSgC- nbpwvkTbTICySA2shfkV&auto=1&eh=385&ew=600&st=yes&height=500&width=600 Leesa sent in two links from Ted Talks One is called Six ways fungi can save the earth, found at http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world.html I may have included that in a previous newsletter, but it is worth repeating.